Nighttime Promises
by boqlover
Summary: Elena lay on her bed facing her window and wished that she would imagine Stefan would climb through the window. But she wasn't wishing for Stefan, she was wishing for... T for now probably M if I write more chapters
1. Chapter 1

Elena lay on her bed facing her window waiting for- she turned over angry at herself for wanting him to be there. She wished that she would imagine Stefan would climb through the window. Stefan, her unimaginably perfect boyfriend. But she wasn't wishing Stefan would slide into her bedroom so swiftly her brother wouldn't hear footsteps on the carpet through the wall. She was wishing for- "Miss me?"

Elena shivered as his cool breath ran over her neck. _Damon._ "Always." She said smiling as she rolled over to face him.

"Well I'm sorry for getting in later than usual, but dear St. Stefan had to lecture me about something."

"Something? Well that's specific."

"I wasn't really listening." he said wrapping an arm around her waist. "I was too busy thinking about you."

"One second." she said sitting up and unclasping her vervain necklace and setting it on her bedside table before laying into him.

"Why do you always do that?" he said as she rubbed her face against the dark fabric of his shirt, feeling the lines of his muscles.

"Do what?"

"Take off the necklace when I get here." He said glancing over her shoulder at the chains pooled over the pendant.

"Well if you're here then I really don't need to worry about vampire attacks. You're all the protection I need."

"Aww, bullshit." He said smiling sarcastically down at her. "Why?"

"So if Stefan drops in I can claim compulsion." she said.

"Wow." he said pulling back to look at her.

"You asked for honesty. I haven't broken up with Stefan yet and I know he's capable of ripping me in half like a paper doll. I don't want to see that happen."

"But you don't mind if I get my ass kicked?"

"You can handle yourself." she said settling back into him. He hesitated but ultimately pulled her back into him. She looked up at him running her fingers over his shoulder. "Why haven't you?" she said.

"Gotten my ass kicked? I have, plenty of times and many times by my brother."

"No, why haven't you compelled me? I mean this is all we've done. Lay here and-" he stopped her lips by kissing her softly running a hand through her hair. "That." she said her breathing shaky. "You haven't tried anything else."

"How do you know I haven't compelled you and just made you forget it?" he said waggling his eyebrows.

"I know because I haven't had long gaps of time where I can't remember what I've done. Also I can walk straight the next day." She said smirking at his shocked expression.

"When did you develop such language ?" he said.

"Around the time you started sneaking in my window." she said closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. "What if I hadn't been wearing the vervain that time you did try to compel me?" she said. "At that football game when you first moved into town you tried to compel me to kiss you, but what if I had kissed you."

"Well at that point it was just about pissing off Stefan. I probably just would have kept kissing you until Stefan rounded the corner then stomped off in one of his hissy fits." Elena lay looking off into space clearly thinking very hard about something. "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

"I want you to compel me." she said still not looking at him.

"What?" he said looking mildly shocked which Elena knew meant he must be incredibly shocked.

"I want to know what it's like..." she said sitting up on her elbows. "I trust you not to take advantage of that fact. I just want to know what it's like."

"Elena-"

"Just compel me to do the same thing you were going to do that night at the football game." She sat up crossing her legs. "Don't act like you haven't wanted to." He sat up facing her.

"Elena," he said his pupils expanding until his whole eye was dark. "I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me." Elena's eyes went wide and blank as she nodded blankly. "And right now... You want to kiss me." Elena leaned into him slowly just as she had that night. For a moment she thought should would reel back and slap him but instead she seemed to fall into him swallowing his mouth in hers. She gripped his face pulling him closer as she rose up on her knees pulling him up with her. His hands ran over her waist as she pressed herself into him. "God Elena you've never kissed me like this before."

"I'll kiss you however you want." she murmured into his mouth rubbing against him hungrily. "I'll do whatever you want." Her hands slid down his sides as she kissed him again as she started to pull his shirt over his head. "I want you Damon." She rolled on her back pulling him on top of her.

"Elena, stop." He said without much conviction.

"You don;t mean that she said still working at getting his shirt off. "You've wanted this don't deny it."

"True." he said gripping her hands. "But not like this."

"You're just saying that." she said writhing against him biting her lip. "You want me any way you can, every way you can." She kissed him again moaning into his mouth relishing the taste of him.

"Elena, Elena stop." he reached over her and grabbed the vervain necklace from her bedside table. He quickly fastened it around her neck and then pulled back to look at her. "Ok now that's why I didn't want to compel you. You say and do things you wouldn't normally do and then you regret-" He was interrupted by Elena kissing him again with the same hunger she had possessed under compulsion gripping his hair with one hand.

"I don't regret anything that just happened. I just needed you to see what I really felt. You just helped bring down some walls." She leaned into him but he pulled back.

"What happened to not wanting to hurt Stefan?" he said looking at her. Elena dropped her hands and looked down.

"I haven't been in love with him for a while. I think I stayed because it was safe and I didn't know how to be alone. Especially with everything going on with Isobeel and the tomb vampires I can't be alone. I couldn't- I needed to know I had you first." she looked down at her hands fiddling with the sheets. "And I understand how incredibly selfish that sounds but-"

"I can't keep doing this if you stay with Stefan." he said cutting her off coldly.

"I don't want anyone else to get hurt either-"

"I don't really give a shit about Stefan getting hurt. I just don't want-" for the first time since she had met him Elena noticed Damon was stumbling over his words. He sighed exasperatedly and fell flat on his back.

"You don't want it to be like it was with Katherine." said Elena, instantly understanding as she looked down at him. "I get it. I'll end it soon I promise." She said laying back down next to him. She laid her hand on his chest and his head on his shoulder but he still didn't look at her. "I promise." she repeated.

"When?" he said his voice cold.

"Tomorrow." she said without any hesitation.

"Well if I had known it'd be that easy I would have told you sooner." he said smirking.

"I've actually been planning this for a while." she said. "I've been dropping hints for a while so it'd be less of a blow when it hits." She settled into his chest as his arm finally wrapped around her.

"I'm going to hold you to that." he said. She felt his hand run up her back and she thought he would tangle it in her hair and pull her mouth to his but instead she felt him unclasp the vervain necklace and she heard it clink onto the table. She looked up at him confused. "Just in case Stefan does stop by. Now stop tempting me and go to sleep." She smiled and rolled over burrowing into him. "You're going to keep me sane by pressing that glorious ass of yours into me?" He wrapped an arm around her tightly. "Good luck." He kissed her ear and she sighed contentedly

"Stay until I fall asleep." she said gripping his hand.

"As long as you need." he said quietly as he watched her breath deepen and he heard her heart rate slow.

_**I know, I know I promised to update my other stories Make Me Feel and No Room for Baby Bumps and possibly A New Challenge, but this little scene has been banging around my head. I needed to just get it onto the page before it slipped away. I might write a second chapter on this one if people like it though. Review and tell me what you think.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Elena lay on her back staring at the cracking her ceiling in absolute darkness. Tears fell silently down the sides of her face but she did not lift her hands to brush them away. She felt Damon lay on the bed next to her but she didn't turn to look at him or acknowledge him at all. Damon lay on his back but turned to watch Elena. He reached out slowly and gripped her hand weaving his finger into hers. "You heard." she said her voice flat.

"I think everyone at The Grill heard." he said turning to face the ceiling with her.

"Were you there?" she said

"No." he said. "But word travels fast." He turned his head to look at her again. "What happened exactly?"

"I told him we needed to talk and so he drove me to The Grill. I told him in the car it might not be a conversation he wanted to have in public but he didn't listen. When we got inside I told him that I didn't love him anymore. That I hadn't been in love with him for a while. He started to freak out and said that I didn't know what I was saying. I tried to get him to calm down, told him everyone was staring." Elena exhaled and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "I didn't how to make him stop so I told himI loved someone else, but at that point I was screaming too. He asked me who it was but I just stood up and walked out the door. He caught me outside by my car and told me I had to tell him who. I told him I wouldn't and-" Elena stopped and inhaled again slowly closing her eyes again. "He lifted me up by the throat slammed my head into the car. He said he wouldn't let me go until I told him. I tried to get him off me but he wouldn't let go. I finally said your name and-" She turned to face him and he looked at her. he saw the dark string of bruises around her neck and the smattering across her cheekbone and one across her eye.

"Elena." he said reaching for her face but she flinched and faced away from him. He pulled back and she faced the ceiling again. "I had no idea-"

"That Stefan would beat the shit out of me when I dumped him for his brother? Me either."

"I wouldn't have asked you to end thing with him if I had known-"

"Damon regardless of what you asked me to do I would have ended things with him eventually. It's not your fault."

"I still feel responsible." said Damon. Elena didn't respond, just kept staring at the ceiling. He looked over her and saw bruises along her arms and collarbone. "So did you tell him the absolute truth or just what you thought would get him off your case?"

"What are you talking about?"said Elena sounding exhausted.

"Are you really in love with... someone else?" He said looking back at the ceiling.

"Yes." she said. "I'm in love with Damon Salvatore."

"I didn't know that." he said trying to keep his voice steady.

"Neither did I until I said it. Wasn't the best time for a realization like that." Elena's voice remained flat and emotionless. He stared at Elena waiting for her to look at him again or say something else but she didn't do anything but stare at the ceiling.

"If you want me to leave-" he said starting to sit up.

"No." she said her voice cracking as she sat up quickly wincing. "Don't go." He looked at her in the dim light from her window and saw just how broken she looked. "Please don't." she said her voice quiet again.

"Whatever you need." he said. She leaned into him wincing as her bruised cheekbone pressed into his chest. He ran his fingertips over an unbruised patch of skin on her forearm. She closed her eyes inhaling quickly and he stopped. "Does that hurt?"

"No." she said. "Don't stop." She kept her eyes closed.

"What did Jenna-"

"She's out with her friends and Jeremy's spending the night at a friends."

"How did you get home?" he said looking concerned.

"I drove." she said evenly.

"Yourself?" he said.

"Yeah." she said opening her eyes. "Look I don't need you to play twenty questions."

"I just want to make sure you're ok?"

"He didn't tear off any limbs, he didn't snap my neck. I consider myself fine."

"Do you want some painkillers or an ice pack-"

"I already took three doses of painkillers and you're better than an ice pack. Just stay here with me, that's all I need right now." Damon stopped trying to question her knowing she would talk when (and if) she was ready. He ran his cool fingers over from her shoulders down to her wrist and back up again.

"Does that hurt?" he said.

"No." she said shaking her head. "It feels good. Keep doing that." he ran his fingers lightly over her arm, her collarbone, her cheekbone, wherever he saw bruises he tried to comfort her. Her tears seemed to have stopped.

"I love you." he said quietly.

"You don't have to say that because you think it's what I need to hear." She said her eyes still shut.

"I'm not." He said not stopping his fingers running over her. "I'm saying it because it's true."

Elena lay in silence for a few moments."Damon, I'm scared."

"Elena, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here all night-"

"And what about tomorrow?" She said opening her eyes and sitting up flinching. "Are you just going to follow me around all day to make sure your brother doesn't murder me?"

"If I need to, that's exactly what I'll do." He said sitting up and looking at her.

"You know you can't guard me 24/7. And what happens when Stefan comes after you? Who's going to watch after you?"

"So do you want to run back to Stefan and tell him you made a mistake? Go back to-"

"No." she said. "I don't want Stefan. I want you. I'm just telling you I'm scared and-" Elena gasped and doubled over grabbing her side.

"Elena what is it?" said Damon leaning towards her.

"It hurts." she gasped gripping at her side.

"Let me see something." said Damon as he lifted up the side of her shirt. A bruise darker than all the others the size of his fist sat above her waist. He looked closely. "Tell me if this hurts." He ran his fingers over the spot the same way he had brushed the rest over her skin and she cried out.

"Yes. Yes that really fucking hurts." she said as she caught her breath.

"I think he broke your ribs." said Damon looking at her. "You need a doctor to reset them. Can you walk down the stairs to your car?" Elena nodded and started to stand but fell back onto the bed.

"I can't." she said gasping.

"Then I'll carry you down." he said. He put his arms under her and started to lift her up. She cried out again.

"Put me down, put me down, put me down." she said. "That hurts worse then trying to stand."

"Then what do you want me to do?" he said looking down at her. "Call an ambulance?"

"No." she said gasping.

"Why not?"

"They'll want to know how I got the bruises and... I don't want anyone else to see me like this."

"Elena you have to get your ribs fixed." Elena sat gripping her side breathing heavily. Then she looked up her eyes wide.

"Let me drink your blood." she said looking up at him.

"What-"

"Let me drink your blood." she said again. "That way my ribs heal and no one has to see me like this."

"Elena-"

"Damon please." she said. "I can't let everyone know I let him do this to me." He started to argue but his eyes caught hers in the dark. She was broken inside and out, her eyes showed that.

"Ok." he said. Elena pulled her feet over the side of her bed and looked up at him. He pulled his wrist up to his mouth as he sat next to her. He pulled back just before he broke the skin. "Are you sure?" He said searching her eyes.

"Yes." she said nodding her eyes locked on his. He bent down and bit his wrist, then pressed it into her mouth never breaking eye contact. She gripped his arm in both of her hands and held it to her mouth. She swallowed slowly searching his eyes. He watched hers carefully ready to pull his arms away at the first sign of doubt be didn't see any. His other hand slid up her back to stoke her neck. She started swallowing deeper her lips caressing his skin as her mouth shifted. He moaned softly as her tongue flicked out to lick him. As he moaned he felt a shiver run up her spine. Her eyes closed as she gripped his wrist tighter. He felt the hand on back of her head slowly start to push her into his wrist harder. He worried it would scare her but she moaned and sucked harder on his wrist. His eyes flickered over her and he saw the bruises had started to fade. He ran a hand under her shirt over the dark spot on her ribs and she didn't flinch or recoil. Instead she moaned leaned into his touch. He started to pull his wrist away but she pulled in back groaning in protest.

"Elena, your ribs are fine." He said huskily hypnotized at the sight of her feeding from him so hungrily, willingly. She didn't seem to hear him and continued sucking her moans humming against his skin. "Elena you can stop." He pulled his wrist away from her and she leaned forward after it. She looked at him her eyes hungry.

"I don't want to stop." she said her voice low. "I don't want to stop tasting you." She pulled his wrist back to her mouth swallowing greedily. "I don't want to stop." she murmured into his skin.

"Elena." he said trying to ignore how her breasts heaved when she breathed so deeply. "Elena you need to stop." She finally stopped sucking, closing her lips but not removing them from his skin. She kissed the spot and finally pulled back her breath deep.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly. "I just couldn't stop."

"It's fine." He said glancing over her. "Most of your bruises are gone." Elena looked down at herself and saw that the lighter bruises were indeed gone and the darker ones had faded considerably.

"Thank you." she said and as she looked up their eyes locked again. She leaned into him swiftly and kissed him softly. His hands caught her waist and she arched into him. He pulled back pressing her forehead into hers breathing heavily.

"Elena, I really do love you." His hand running up and down her waist.

"I love you, Damon." she said. She held his face and pulled him to her placing small soft kisses on his eyelids, his sharp cheekbones, the corner of her mouth and then his lips. He kissed her running his hands into the small of her back and she closed her eyes as he moved her to the center of her bed crawling over her. Her heart started to race as he kissed her deeper, the coolness of his lips making her feel oddly calmed.

_You think I'll let you go? You think I'm gonna let you fuck my brother and let the whole town laugh at me behind my back? You think Damon can keep you safe? You think you can just walk away? I'll show you who owns you, I'll make sure you don't forget._ Elena gasped and pushed against Damon. "Don't!" She screamed kicking against him.

"Elena what is it?" he said stepping back as she sat up clutching her throat gasping in panic. He stepped towards her reaching out to stroke her face.

"Stefan stop!" she screamed her eyes shut hitting against him. "Don't! Don't!"

"Elena it's me, it's Damon. Stefan's not here."

"He's not going to stop. He's not going to leave us alone. He won't stop until I'm dead." she yelled pulling her knees to her chest gripping the sides of her head.

"Elena, you need to calm down." Damon reached out and gripped her arms firmly. She pushed against him starting to yell again. "Elena it's Damon. Stefan's not here. Elena!" He shook her firmly and she finally opened her eyes. She looked up at him.

"I'm sorry." she said and she started to cry again. "I'm so sorry I don't know what happened. I just heard his voice and I-" Her voice caught in her throat and she started to hyperventilate.

"Elena don't." he wrapped his arms around her and she clung to him. "I shouldn't have climbed over you like that. I should have known after tonight-"

"No don't apologize." she said. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come over."

"I should go-"

"No!" she said swiftly. "I need you to stay here. Just lay next to me, please." She looked up at him. "I can't be alone tonight. I need you to stay." She looked up at him helplessly. "Please."

"I won't leave you alone." He said pulling her into him stroking her hair. He lifted her then laid her onto the bed. he lay next to her and she wrapped her arm around him resting her head on his chest. She wrapped one leg around him needing to hold onto him anyway she could. He wrapped an arm around her waist and he felt her start to relax. "Sleep Elena. You need sleep."

"Promise to-" she started sleepily.

"I won't leave until you want me to." He said kissing the top of her head.

"Then you'll never leave." she said. He felt her head drop and he knew she had fallen asleep. She clung to him tighter even as she slept.

"I'll never leave." he echoed looking down at her.


	3. Chapter 3

Elena woke slowly but didn't open her eyes. The events of the previous nights were fresh in her mind and she wanted to remain in the blissful state between her nightmares and the frightening reality that was now her life. She knew Damon would do his best to protect her but he couldn't truly watch after her all the time. She would have to face Stefan eventually, either in public or school. There was no way she could avoid him in such a small town.

"You awake?" She heard Damon sit up on his elbows and look over at her.

"No." she said. "I'm just going to sleep forever."

"I'm sorry but you have to wake up sometime." he said.

"No." she said. "I can't face the real world."

"Yes." he said wrapping his arms around her and turning her to face him. She buried her face in his chest. "You have to face it."

"What if I just face you." She said inhaling the smell of his skin as she wrapped her arms around him. "We can just hide under the covers and pretend we're the last two people in the world." She opened her eyes and looked up at his as he stroked her hair. "Please?"

"As much as I would love to do that we have to get out of this bed sooner or later."

"I choose later." she said closing her eyes as she kissed him softly. His hands tightened around her waist as she rolled on top of him. She slid her legs up and down as she pushed against him. His hands ran up her back as he tangled his fingers in her hair. She sighed softly into his mouth as he pulled her in closer.

"You've got to wake up." he said pulling back slightly.

"I am awake." she said and leaned down to kiss him but he turned away.

"You can't just hide in you room with the lights off and wait for this to go away. You have to face it." Elena rolled off him onto her back. She stared at the ceiling completely still looking just as she had the night before when he'd come through her window.

"I can't." she said quietly. "I can't face him, not yet."

"I'm not asking you to face him. Go see Caroline or Bonnie, just don't hide."

"Do you want to leave?" she said looking over at him. He could see her eyes were wet, tears clinging to the bottoms of her lashes.

"Never." he said running his thumb along her eyes wiping the tears away.

"Then why are you trying to get me out?" she said.

"You've done nothing but stay in here for two days. And you've only let me out of here to get you food and compel Jenna and Jeremy to stay out."

"I feel safe in here, with you." she said rolling into hims again holding him close. "I don't want you to go."

"I'll be here with you." he said sitting up and pulling her up with him. "I just need you to get up." He stood up holding her hands. "I'll help you." She looked up at their hands locked together, his ivory fingers contrasted against her olive skin. She looked into his eyes and pulled herself up to her feet. "Now look in the mirror."

"Damon, I can't look at myself."

"Elena, most of the bruises are gone and ever the worst have faded. You need to be able to face yourself." She looked at the full length mirror against her closet. She walked towards it slowly but as soon as she started to see herself cross the edge of the mirror she closed her eyes again. She stood squarely in front of the mirror her eyes squeezed shut tightly. "I'm right here." He whispered into her ear. He stood behind her gripping her hands as his arms wrapped around her loosely.

She opened her eyes focusing on his face over her shoulder. Their eyes met and she saw him look down at her. Her eyes finally looked at her reflection and she tried to turn away, bury her face in his chest but he caught her upper arms keeping her from turning away. She finally looked at herself and she felt something catch in her throat. Most of the bruises were gone but her eyes were red and dark with shadows of sleep. Her hair was tangled and she looked so hollow. "I'm so broken." she said softly.

"I'll fix you." he said. He ran his hands down her sides as she studied herself finding traces of Stefan's abuse all over her. She leaned against Damon pulling his arms around her.

"Why do you want to fix me?" She said catching his eyes in the mirror.

"Because I love you." He said catching her chin and tilting her face upward so their eyes and lips were only inches apart. He bent down and kissed her softly his lips barely brushing hers.

"I hate that he did this." she said turning away and facing the mirror again. "He said, he said that he did this so I would know who he really belonged to. He gave me his mark so I couldn't forget him."

"If you drink again the rest of the bruises will probably fade." he said. She nodded and he pulled his wrist to his mouth breaking the skin. He slid one arm around her waist and his other to her mouth draping around his neck.

"This is like the first time." she said looking at him again in the mirror. "When you tried to turn me."

"I'm sorry." he said starting to drop his hands. "I didn't mean to-"

"No." she said catching at his arm. "I want to feel your arms around me." He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and chest as she wrapped her arm over the one circling her waist. She stared at herself in the mirror as she took his wrist into her mouth. She began to swallow softly leaning back into his chest. He held her waist tighter and she closed her eyes. She took long slow swallows inhaling him like breath. She finally opened her eyes and watched as the last of the bruises fade to nothing. As soon as Damon saw the last one disappear he pulled his wrist away. She leaned forward slightly but restrained herself pressing her lips together.

"Better?" he said looking down at her. She didn't respond right away and he kissed the top of her head inhaling her sweet fragrance. "Elena do you feel any better?"

"Much better." she said looking in the mirror. "It's looks like it's all gone." She closed her eyes exhaling slowly. "But I still feel him all over me."

"Maybe a shower would help." he said turning her around. "You do that and I'll make something for you to eat." She nodded and walked into the bathroom as he walked down the stairs.

She walked into her bathroom closing the door behind her. She turned on the water and stared in the mirror as the room started to fill with steam. She ran her hands along her cheeks trying to push away the dark hollow look in her eyes. She leaned on the sink looking down at her hands, her knuckles white. When she looked up again the steam had covered the mirror so she could only see a blurry shape looking back at her. She pulled off the clothes she hadn't changed since Damon had come over and stuffed them into the hamper. She pulled back the glass door and stepped in. The hot water stung but she stepped into it letting it pour over her. She stuck her face into the water letting the rushing water block out all other sound. White noise filled her ears as she closed her eyes. She pushed her hair back off her face and slid her hands down the sides of her face. She had hoped the noise would clear her mind but all it did was give her deafening silence. _What do you think is going to happen when you leave this house? Do you think you'll be safe? You'll regret what you've done Elena. I won't let you laugh at me. _She opened her eyes gasping and looking around sure Stefan would be behind her. All she saw was the white emptiness of her bathroom. She braced herself against the walls inhaling deeply dropping her head. _I'm not going to let him have you. I don't care if you won't take me back. I will drive a stake through his heart. And then I will drain Bonnie and Caroline and Jeremy and Jenna until you have no one left but me._ Elena fell to her knees her body shaking with sobs. She gripped at the walls pulling her knees into her chest.

"Elena? Elena?" she heard Damon yell as he pounded on the door. "Are you ok?" She couldn't catch her breath to reply just kept crying in gasping sobs. "Elena I'm going to come in if you don't say something back." Elena tried to catch her breath but her words caught in her throat.

She saw Damon's dark form through the clouded glass of the shower door come through the door. He threw open the door and looked down at Elena holding her knees shaking with sobs as she looked up at him. "He's never going to leave me alone is he?"

"Elena..." he said his voice soft. He leaned down and picked her up not seeming to notice the water soaking his shirt. He slid a hand behind her knees and held her to his chest. She kept crying but it slowed as he carried her out of the bathroom grabbing a towel on the way to her bedroom. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you so fast." He wrapped the towel around her and set her down on the bed.

"It doesn't matter." she said. "He's going to come after me."

"Elena-"

"You didn't see the look in his eyes when I told him. You didn't hear the things he said when I was laying on the ground bleeding-" she stopped herself looking down quickly.

"I didn't see any cuts Elena. Why were you bleeding?" His voice was no longer the soft comforting voice he had been using but a solid tone."

"I didn't mean bleeding." she said quickly. "I meant-" Damon leaned over Elena and turned on the lights, looking at her straight on in full light for the first time since he had ended things with his brother. Elena looked down the dark curtain of her hair covering her face. He pushed her hair back and looked at her neck. He saw the faded oval of teeth marks on her neck.

"He drank from you." said Damon. It wasn't a question.

"Maybe it's just a bad bruise-" she said reaching up to cover it but he caught her hand.

"All your bruises are gone Elena. The only thing that would heal from vampire blood is another vampires bite." He looked at the bite again holding her neck. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why is it important?" She said turning her head away from his grip. "I told you he beat the shit out of me, why do the details matter?"

"You know how out of control he got the last time he drank human blood. He won't stop with just you, everyone in Mystic Falls is in danger if Stefan's drinking human blood again." Elena's breath was shallow again as she started to hyperventilate. "Shit, I didn't mean to yell at you, it's not your fault."

"I should have told you the whole story." She said looking up at him. "And now I will." She inhaled deeply.

"Elena-" he said trying to apologize.

"No." she said. "I need to tell you. Just let me get dressed first." She stood up walking to her dresser. She pulled on a dark pair of jeans and a soft navy shirt. She sat down next to him.

"You ready?" he said. Elena nodded.

"After he followed me out of The Grill he calmed down a little. He followed me to my car and said he just wanted to know who I was with. I told him it didn't matter who it was but he just kept saying he wanted to know it was someone who wouldn't hurt me. I said that I knew it was someone who could watch over me. He said that I needed to be sure because-" she looked up at him smiling bitterly. "He said, 'You need to be sure he can, because as soon as Damon hears he'll try and get to you.' Eerily prophetic, don't you think?" She looked up at him laughing sarcastically.

"Yeah." he said. "How'd you manage to keep a straight face when he said that?"

She looked down. "I didn't. I started laughing and he kind of just smiled at me strangely and asked why I was laughing. I couldn't stop laughing and I finally just said 'It is Damon.' And he stopped smiling." The smile dropped from her face as well. "That's when he pinned me to the car and I saw his fangs." She dropped her head again. "He said I better be kidding. I told him I wasn't but not to worry, I knew I could trust you. That things had changed after Georgia. He didn't believe you could change and that I was being stupid if I thought you could. He said he pitied me for being so stupid and he let me down. I should have just driven away then."

"But you didn't." said Damon.

"No." she said staring at the ceiling. "No I did something really stupid. I told him that I loved you because you were the better Salvatore and that I knew that if Katherine was alive she would have chosen you to. I told him he was pathetic and-" She caught herself. "He slammed my head into the side of the car and told me to shut up but I couldn't. I just kept yelling at him. He just kept screaming at me saying if I didn't shut up soon I'd regret it but I couldn't. He said he knew how to shut me up. He threw me to the ground and pinned me there. That's when he bit me."

"How did you get him to stop?" said Damon.

"I tried to fight him off but he just laughed at me again. Told me I wasn't worth draining and took off. If I hadn't yelled at him he wouldn't have done this to me. It's all my fault."

"Don't blame yourself for what he did. It is all his fault." He pulled her into him. "I get why you don't want to face him."

"I just want to disappear for a while." she said laying into him.

"What if I told you we could." he said looking down at her.

"What are you talking about?" she said looking at him confused.

"I might have a little place in North Carolina. I could compel Jenna into thinking you're on some school sanctioned one week trip and steal you away."

"What happened to not running away?" she said.

"I think we both need to lay low while Stefan is on human blood." he stood up holding out a hand to her. "Want to run away Miss Gilbert?"

"More than anything ." She said taking his hand and standing up, kissing him as he held her to him.


End file.
